Nevada Highway Patrol

This patch,worn by the Nevada State Police for just six months in 1940, had a blue background with white letters and border. The officers wore dark blue pants, light blue shirts and dark hats with only one patch on the right shoulder. The patches were hand made so only 10 or 12 were ever produced. Because the State wouldn't continue to buy the uniforms, the officers went back to wearing Military Officers Pinks without patches in 1941. This rendering is from Scott Baron's book entitled Nevada Law Enforcement Cloth Ensignia [sic], illustrated by Leo V. Randall, Jr. Pictures of officers of this era reveal that many wore no patches at all.
In 1949, Nevada changed the name of the State Police to the Highway Patrol. This patch was worn from 1949 to 1954. A special thanks to Mr. Mark Browder of Las Vegas for providing the image of this patch. Mr. Browder has the patch in his extensive collection of Nevada police insignia.
In 1954, Nevada dramatically changed the Highway Patrol patch by making it in a state-shape. This striking patch, worn from 1954 to 1972, along with the following patches were scanned from the webmaster's personal collection.
This patch is believed to have been worn from 1954 to the early 60's. It was worn by troopers who worked the three ports of entry: Lawton's (near Reno), Wells and Jean (near Las Vegas). The NHP during this time had two divisions: Enforcement and Motorcarrier. New NHP troopers were generally assigned to the ports before graduating to field enforcement. They often did not like to be differentiated from the regular NHP, and patches were often "lost," so that they could be issued regular NHP patches. This information was furnished by Mr Randy Slater, a former Field Agent, NHP Trooper and retired Douglas County Sheriff's Deputy.
In 1972, Nevada changed the patch to the silver and blue that is shown here. This patch was worn from 1972 to 1986.
In 1986, Nevada changed the patch to this style which of worn through 2002.
In 1999, Colonel Mike Hood, head of the NHP, authorized this 50th Anniversary patch to be worn by his troopers during the year of the agency's anniversary.
In late 1999, the NHP adopted this honor guard patch. It is identicle to the standard shoulder patch of this era with the words "Honor Guard" added at the top.
Effective January 1, 2004, NHP is adopting this patch as their agency's official shoulder patch. It is being worn now in a transition period before its official adoption.

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